When the idea hit my mind, I doubted it for a moment. Then I reconsidered and tried to
do it. I wanted to buy a mouse and give him or her a mini mansion. I felt more creative when Istarted. The house would have a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and a playroom. It was going totake time, money, and lots of hard work, but it would also be fun. Also, it would make themouse look more organized.
The first thing to do was to convince my mom to buy me a mouse. It wasn’t the price of themouse, or taking care of the mouse, it was the fact that our landlord, U.L., was allergic to mice. Ihad to convince my landlord that I should have one, because there is such a thing called Flonaseor Allegra. U.L. barely accepted, and my mom drove me to the pet store to get a mouse. Inamed him Neon, because it sounds cool and also I’m not good at naming things. I would’venamed him Tiny, but my neighbor’s cat was named Tiny.
The second challenge was getting the materials and making Neon’s house. I needed a thin
wooden box, glass around the size of the wood and mice misc., such as food, padding etc. Ittook about three weeks to build his house. It would’ve taken two weeks if the little kids didn’tkick the ball into the open doorway. The ball knocked Neon’s house to the ground. When Ifinally finished, I set Neon inside, and he immediately ran to his little kitchen room. I didn’tblame him - he hadn’t eaten all day. I took a few pictures of Neon’s house. But something wasmissing besides all the cushions, color, rooms, and space. I made a sign over his door thatspelled, “Home, Sweet, Home.” I knew Neon couldn’t read it, but I could.
After a few weeks, I felt sorry for Neon. He needed life’s best gifts, company. I asked
my mom for another mouse for Neon as company. My mom accepted, and I got another mouse. I named her Helium. Neon and Helium never really used the bathroom. The whole house wastheir bathroom. I wanted to make a little mouse wedding with all the other animals in theapartment building, but unfortunately, my mom said “No!”
The bathroom had torn newspaper in it, and was close to the door. so I could change it
every so often. The kitchen had food and water. The playroom had one of the mice in it all thetime. The colors were green, red, blue, and yellow. The tubes were yellow and red. The wheelswere blue. And the “wall paper’ was green. The bedroom was small and had lots of cushioning.
Later, Neon and Helium had baby mice or pinkies. I named one NJ for Neon Jr. He had a
small black speck on his belly and was all white. JR sometimes slept in the food bowl. Wemade the house a little bigger so all the mice could fit.
Neon still lives today. And the house is still up. I’ve learned from this experience that
mice can be organized just like humans, by having different rooms with different value to them. Neon was organized like a human… with the exception of him using the bathroom everywhere. I feel proud of Neon, and myself.
COMMENTARY NORPLANT: AN UNMET CONTRACEPTIVE NEED IN ENUGU, NIGERIA Dr Ibekwe, Perpetus Chudi FWACS Department Of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Ebonyi State University Teaching Hospital - Abakaliki, Nigeria. (Formerly -Department Of Obstetrics/Gynaecology University Of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu, Nigeria) Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality 1 Norplant, as a famil